The Election Commissions list of dos and don’ts has just grown longer. It has now banned photographs of national leaders including the Prime Minister on Republic Day advertisements issued by Central agencies in the five poll-bound states.

As a result,two sets of advertisements are being published for Republic Day,without the photographs for the poll-bound states and with them for the rest of the country.

Newspapers published from New Delhi and Chandigarh and with editions going to the poll-bound states,EC officials said,would be directed not to publish the photo advertisements in these editions.

Earlier the EC had banned candidates who might be ministers from presiding over R-Day functions in their constituencies. They could do so only in other constituencies. The EC had also stated that these minister candidates should confine themselves to extolling the achievements of the martyrs in securing freedom of the country,glory of the Indian State and so on. Under no circumstances,they should become a platform for political campaign.